Google TV Masthead

With Google TV Masthead, you can showcase your brand or content as the first impression on the TV screen, before organic content recommendations. Google TV Masthead is ideal for people who want to drive awareness, tune-in for their content, or both. In this article, you’ll learn about Google TV Masthead’s bidding strategy, available assets, technical specs, and reporting tool.

Note: Currently, Google TV Masthead is only available in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, US, United Kingdom, and Vietnam.

How it works

When the TV is switched on, the Masthead ad appears first in a featured carousel of content, followed by organic recommendations. When the user focuses on the Masthead, which means they press the down button on their remote, the Masthead increases in size and presents the CTA button. After 2 seconds, if the viewer remains idle, the Masthead transitions into a fullscreen video with audio.

If the viewer clicks on the CTA button, they’ll be directed into the app or YouTube content via deep link. If the deep link leads to an app that isn’t installed by the viewer, Google TV will lead them to the app’s page on Google Play, where they can download it.

Available bidding strategy

Cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM)

With CPM, you pay per one thousand impressions. CPM provides a reserved and fixed volume of impressions that are delivered over the course of your campaign.

Available targeting options

Google TV Masthead campaigns can utilize the following targeting options:

Affinity segments
Days, but not partial days or hours
Demographics
Geo-targeting
Parental status
User language

Note: Utilizing targeting may incur a CPM upcharge.

How Masthead appears on Google TV

“For you” landing page

As the viewer lands on the “For you” page, the Masthead ad is presented. The Masthead creative would be a static image, based on the video thumbnail, the title, and the promotional description.

This illustration depicts the Google TV landing page.

Auto play

After 2 seconds, the static image transitions into the video with no sound. The UI, along with the dark scrim, remains in place.

Focused state

As the viewer focuses and presses the down button on the remote, the CTA button is presented while the video continues to play.

Immersive preview

After focusing, if the viewer remains idle with no interaction with the Masthead, the UI transitions into a fullscreen playback of the video with sound.

Required creative assets

You need these assets in a Masthead. To preview your assets, use the YouTube Masthead Preview Tool. This tool shows what your masthead will look like on Google TV’s home screen and when it’s in the focused state.

Note:

For Masthead campaigns held in the US, creatives must be content-forward, meaning it should be promoting a show, movie, or event.
Creatives must be family-friendly and not promote violence, foul language, or sexually-explicit content.
Creatives mustn’t feature Inappropriate content and promotional text must meet Editorial policies.
Creatives must be submitted no later than 2 days before launching the campaign (5 days if the campaign is going to run in APAC or LATAM)
There’s a maximum of 5 creatives per campaign, which will rotate evenly.
There will be up to 1 creative swap per campaign flight.
The following categories are restricted from running Google TV Masthead campaigns:
- Consumer electronics, including TV manufacturers and TV operating systems
- Virtual assistants
- Gambling
- Alcohol
- Pharmaceutical
- Political

Asset	Required?	Guidelines
Title	Yes	The title or product name of the content in the Masthead. Use the YouTube Masthead Preview Tool for recommendations on text lengths.
Promotional description	Yes	The brief and informative text that appears under the title. Shorter phrases are preferred, so don’t aim to fill the allotted space. Use the YouTube Masthead Preview Tool for recommendations on text lengths. For descriptions containing a premiere date, you must follow the format “Series premiere [Day], [Month] [Date]”. The promotional description strictly mustn’t contain the following: Too much text or communicating multiple points All-caps words or phrases, but acronyms are fine Title casing, which means Each Word Has A Capital Letter Repeating the content title or CTA Non-essential symbols, special characters, and abbreviations Copyright information or technical text Condescending, violent, and offensive language Third-party trademarks Google or Android references
Video promo	Yes	Promotional video or trailer for content. Ensure the content of the video is appropriate for general audiences. The video must be hosted on Youtube. The resolution needs to be 1920 x 1080 or higher with a runtime between 10 to 30 seconds. It’s also recommended to provide a 16:9 video for optimal performance, and to avoid placing logo overlays and watermarks for the duration of the video. The video strictly mustn’t contain the following: Condescending, violent, and offensive language Nudity, heavy violence, graphic or shocking content Third-party trademarks, unless material to the content being featured and authorized for use Google or Android logos Reference to pricing, sales, or discounts UI renders or icons appearing as click targets
Immersive background	Yes	A visually engaging backdrop asset which supports the content being promoted. The immersive background is pulled from the video thumbnail of the video promo hosted on YouTube. The main subject or primary focus should be within the right half of the image. The image file should be a high-quality .jpg or in .png without transparency. It should also be in 16:9 ratio, and the size should be 1920 x 1080 pixels. A PSD template is available for download. The background strictly mustn’t contain the following: Text, logos, icons, or trademarks, although there are instances where an exception can be applied, such as an app advertising multiple programs Multiple points of focus or competing objects High contrast areas or hard crops Pixelation or blurring of main subject Repetitive patterns or high contrast texture White background or white color overlays Reference to pricing, sales, or discounts Devices or screens with UI elements UI renders or icons appearing as click targets Nudity, violent, and graphic content Copyright information
App ID	Yes	App ID of the app that should be opened upon clicking on the CTA button. The app should be available on Google TV and in the specific country your ad will run in. Learn how to Find mobile app names and IDs for targeting.
Call-to-action (CTA)	Yes	The text in the CTA button, which depends on the availability of the content. When the user focuses on the Masthead, a CTA button will appear containing the CTA text. The CTA will also appear as an overlay when the video promo is played. Use the YouTube Masthead Preview Tool for recommendations on text lengths. To determine what the CTA should be, refer to Call-to-action options.
Deep link URL	No, but recommended	The destination URL for the CTA button. When the CTA button is clicked, it can go to the specific piece of content in your app or platform using the content’s deep link. If the deep link isn’t provided, the user will be redirected to the app homepage instead, if the app is installed.

Call-to-action options

The CTA will differ depending on the availability of the content as well as the country where the campaign will be held.

English (US, United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland)

Availability and access to content	CTA text
Subscription app/service (SVOD)	Watch on [App name]
Advertising embedded (AVOD)	Watch on [App name]
Single transaction to rent (TVOD)	Rent now
Single transaction to buy (TVOD)	Buy now
Theatrical releases	Watch the full trailer
Unreleased or pre-premiere content, such as live events and future content	Learn more on [App name]
Other cases	Learn more

Spanish (US)

Availability and access to content	CTA text
Subscription app/service (SVOD)	Mirar en [App name]
Advertising embedded (AVOD)	Mirar en [App name]
Single transaction to rent (TVOD)	Alquilar ahora
Single transaction to buy (TVOD)	Comprar ahora
Theatrical releases	Ver avances completos
Unreleased or pre-premiere content, such as live events and future content	Más información en [App name]
Other cases	Más información

Spanish (Spain)

Availability and access to content	CTA text
Subscription app/service (SVOD)	Ver en [App name]
Advertising embedded (AVOD)	Ver en [App name]
Single transaction to rent (TVOD)	Alquilar ahora
Single transaction to buy (TVOD)	Comprar ahora
Theatrical releases	Ver el tráiler completo
Unreleased or pre-premiere content, such as live events and future content	Más información en [App name]
Other cases	Más información

French (France)

Availability and access to content	CTA text
Subscription app/service (SVOD)	Regarder sur [App name]
Advertising embedded (AVOD)	Regarder sur [App name]
Single transaction to rent (TVOD)	Louer maintenant
Single transaction to buy (TVOD)	Acheter maintenant
Theatrical releases	Voir la bande annonce
Unreleased or pre-premiere content, such as live events and future content	En savoir plus via [App name]
Other cases	En savoir plus

French (Canada)

Availability and access to content	CTA text
Subscription app/service (SVOD)	Regarder sur [App name]
Advertising embedded (AVOD)	Regarder sur [App name]
Single transaction to rent (TVOD)	Louer maintenant
Single transaction to buy (TVOD)	Acheter maintenant
Theatrical releases	Voir la bande-annonce
Unreleased or pre-premiere content, such as live events and future content	En savoir plus sur [App name]
Other cases	En savoir plus

German

Availability and access to content	CTA text
Subscription app/service (SVOD)	Auf [App name] ansehen
Advertising embedded (AVOD)	Auf [App name] ansehen
Single transaction to rent (TVOD)	Film ausleihen
Single transaction to buy (TVOD)	Film kaufen
Theatrical releases	Ganzen Trailer ansehen
Unreleased or pre-premiere content, such as live events and future content	Auf [App name] mehr erfahren
Other cases	Mehr erfahren

Italian

Availability and access to content	CTA text
Subscription app/service (SVOD)	Guarda su [App name]
Advertising embedded (AVOD)	Guarda su [App name]
Single transaction to rent (TVOD)	Noleggia ora
Single transaction to buy (TVOD)	Acquista ora
Theatrical releases	Guarda il trailer completo
Unreleased or pre-premiere content, such as live events and future content	Scopri di più su [App name]
Other cases	Scopri di più

Japanese

Availability and access to content	CTA text
Subscription app/service (SVOD)	[App name]で見る
Advertising embedded (AVOD)	[App name]で見る
Single transaction to rent (TVOD)	レンタルする
Single transaction to buy (TVOD)	購入する
Theatrical releases	予告編を見る
Unreleased or pre-premiere content, such as live events and future content	[App name]で詳細を見る
Other cases	詳細を見る

Reporting

Metrics

Google TV Masthead supports these metrics in reporting:

Impressions
Clicks to video
Clicks to advertiser site
Video completion rates
Video quartiles
Unique reach

Google TV Masthead doesn’t support click or impressions trackers.

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